Addresses National Science and Technology  Standards

The Bot Brain Curriculum meets many Academic Standards for Science and Technology.  Below is a list of related National Science Standards:

 Science as Inquiry

CONTENT STANDARD A:

As a result of their activities in grades 9-12, all students should develop

 ABILITIES NECESSARY TO DO SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY

• Identify questions that can be answered through scientific investigations.
• Design and conduct a scientific investigation.
• Use technology and mathematics to improve investigations and communications.
• Formulate and revise scientific explanations and models using logic and evidence.
• Recognize and analyze alternative explanations and models.
• Communicate and defend a scientific argument.

 UNDERSTANDINGS ABOUT SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY

·        Scientists usually inquire about how physical, living, or designed systems function. Conceptual principles and knowledge guide scientific inquiries.

·        Scientists conduct investigations for a wide variety of reasons. For example, they may wish to discover new aspects of the natural world, explain recently observed phenomena, or test the conclusions of prior investigations or the predictions of current theories.

• Scientists rely on technology to enhance the gathering and manipulation of data.

·        Mathematics is essential in scientific inquiry.

 Physical Science

CONTENT STANDARD B:

As a result of their activities in grades 9-12, all students should develop an understanding of

 MOTIONS AND FORCES

• Objects change their motion only when a net force is applied. Laws of motion are used to calculate precisely the effects of forces on the motion of objects.
• Gravitation is a universal force that each mass exerts on any other mass.
• The electric force is a universal force that exists between any two charged objects.
• Electricity and magnetism are two aspects of a single electromagnetic force. Moving electric charges produce magnetic forces, and moving magnets produce electric forces. These effects help students to understand electric motors and generators.

CONSERVATION OF ENERGY AND THE INCREASE IN DISORDER

• All energy can be considered to be either kinetic energy, which is the energy of motion; potential energy, which depends on relative position; or energy contained by a field, such as electromagnetic waves.

 Science and Technology

CONTENT STANDARD E:

As a result of their activities in grades 9-12, all students should develop

ABILITIES OF TECHNOLOGICAL DESIGN

• Identify a problem or design an opportunity.
• Propose designs and choose between alternative solutions.
• Implement a proposed solution.
• Evaluate the solution and its consequences.
• Communicate the problem, process, and solution.

 UNDERSTANDINGS ABOUT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

• Scientists in different disciplines ask different questions, use different methods of investigation, and accept different types of evidence to support their explanations. Many scientific investigations require the contributions of individuals from different disciplines, including engineering.

• Science often advances with the introduction of new technologies. Solving technological problems often results in new scientific knowledge.
• Creativity, imagination, and a good knowledge base are all required in the work of science and engineering.
• Science and technology are pursued for different purposes. Scientific inquiry is driven by the desire to understand the natural world, and technological design is driven by the need to meet human needs and solve human problems.
• Technological knowledge is often not made public because of patents and the financial potential of the idea or invention. Scientific knowledge is made public through presentations at professional meetings and publications in scientific journals.

 History and Nature of Science

CONTENT STANDARD G:

As a result of their activities in grades 5-8, all students should develop an understanding of

 SCIENCE AS A HUMAN ENDEAVOR

• Individuals and teams have contributed and will continue to contribute to the scientific enterprise. Doing science or engineering can be as simple as an individual conducting field studies or as complex as hundreds of people working on a major scientific question or technological problem. Pursuing science as a career or as a hobby can be both fascinating and intellectually rewarding.
• Scientists have ethical traditions. Scientists value peer review, truthful reporting about the methods and outcomes of investigations, and making public the results of work.
• Scientists are influenced by societal, cultural, and personal beliefs and ways of viewing the world. Science is not separate from society but rather science is a part of society.

THE NATURE OF SCIENCE

• Science distinguishes itself from other ways of knowing and from other bodies of knowledge through the use of empirical standards, logical arguments, and skepticism, as scientists strive for the best possible explanations about the natural world.
• Scientific explanations must meet certain criteria. First and foremost, they must be consistent with experimental and observational evidence about nature, and must make accurate predictions, when appropriate, about systems being studied. They should also be logical, respect the rules of evidence, be open to criticism, report methods and procedures, and make knowledge public. Explanations on how the natural world changes based on myths, personal beliefs, religious values, mystical inspiration, superstition, or authority may be personally useful and socially relevant, but they are not scientific.
• Because all scientific ideas depend on experimental and observational confirmation, all scientific knowledge is, in principle, subject to change as new evidence becomes available.